Modern Pride and Prejudice Bethyl AU
by siriusblackheartattack
Summary: What happens when you modernize Pride and Prejudice and stick Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon into the roles of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy? Because that's exactly what I'm doing here in my retelling of Jane Austen's classic romance. I'm sticking very closely to the original story but with my own modern twist. (Unfortunately, I do not own these characters, AMC does, damn it).
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - "Netherfield Park is let at last!"**

"'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife…' Well girls, if only that was still the truth."

Beth giggled loudly as her Auntie Andrea read the first lines of Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice _out loud to them. She and her older sister Maggie were sitting on Maggie's bed with their aunt, procrastinating from doing their chores. This was a daily ritual – often the farm work got to be too overwhelming, and the day grew too sweltering, so Maggie, Beth, and their Auntie Andrea would retreat into one of many bedrooms and read classic literature aloud to each other while giggling and telling jokes in between. Their other sisters still hadn't discovered their secret, and Beth was glad. As much as she loved her other siblings, she liked having this moment alone every day with her two favorite people.

Beth lived on a farm, out in the Georgian countryside with her four other siblings, her wonderful father, and her Auntie Andrea. Beth's mother had passed away many years ago, and Hershel Greene's younger sister Andrea had quickly decided to move in and help with the heavy lifting. Raising five children was a hard enough task – and Hershel not only had five children, but an entire estate to attend to.

Maggie and Beth were the eldest of the five – and although both had left to get college degrees, they had found themselves eventually coming back to the farm. They both loved their daddy, and knew he needed their help – one day it would most likely be their own farm to run. Money was tight, and their other siblings were all but useless. Their third sibling (and only brother) Shawn was no help. He spent his days by the piano, writing songs and practicing his music. When he wasn't playing the piano (badly), he had his nose stuck in a book. Then came Tara, and finally, Rosita. Of their two younger sisters, Tara was the more levelheaded, but just barely. Both girls had wicked senses of humor and didn't know how to sit still, especially when together (and they were almost always together). They always caused chaos on the farm – Rosita was impulsive, and often came up with bad ideas that got both girls in trouble. Hershel often remarked under his breath that girls their age were graduating from college and living responsible, adult lives by now. But this didn't faze them. As hectic as life was on the Greene farm, the family was a tightly knit group. They loved each other, and recognized how much they needed each other. Everyone wanted to live together on the farm for as long as they could.

"Oh, speaking of rich men, have you girls heard the news?"

Beth looked questioningly at her aunt and her sister. No, she hadn't.

"That fancy vacant lodge a few miles down the road has finally been sold," Andrea said, a mischievous glint in her eye, "to one man! A Mr. Glenn Rhee. Apparently he bought it as a new vacation home – wanted somewhere to go to get out of the Atlanta heat. Rumor has it, he and a few friends are the only people living in that whole, huge building."

"They don't plan on just keepin' it as their house, do they?" Maggie asked, her eyes wide at the thought. "That's a huge property, they could turn it into somethin' good for the community!"

Beth silently agreed with her sister. Many years ago, the lodge had been a resort hotel, complete with horseback riding lessons, a golf course, and a spa. But in the 2008 stock-market crash, the owner had gone broke and the lodge remained pretty much abandoned.

"Actually, they're remodeling it and trying to restore it to what it was."

Hershel Greene had just appeared in the doorway, smiling at his girls. "I actually met with the young man yesterday. He's been looking for locals to invest in his project, wants to eventually start a new business. Apparently he's some sort of hotel royalty – got resorts up all over the country. Asked me for some help meeting the natives and finding investors. Seems like a nice guy."

"Oh, we don't care if he's nice, we want to know if he's cute," Andrea said with a little grin in Maggie's direction. Maggie turned bright red, and Beth couldn't help but laugh.

Auntie Andrea had been trying for years to set Maggie up with different young men, but nothing seemed to stick. _God didn't make you this gorgeous for nothing_, she would say to Maggie. Beth knew that deep down, Maggie really _was_ starting to feel lonely out here at the farm – she had given up a lot when she moved back home, and she hadn't been in a solid relationship in years. And although Auntie Andrea's teasing was only lighthearted fun, Beth could tell that Maggie often took it to heart. Maggie often voiced her fears to Beth, wondering if she would ever really be free to have her own life, since she was the eldest, and therefore would most likely inherit the farm from their father. She didn't want to leave him in his debt, but she was also itching for something more. Beth didn't blame her. They had grown up in this small town – they knew almost everyone in it. The most exciting thing that ever happened here was when new recruits arrived at the Naval Base that was situated on the outskirts of their city-limit. It meant fresh blood – Navy boys to talk to and invite over for dinner.

"He's a good lookin' kid," Hershel said with a nod, "He's got two sisters with him and a friend who came up from Atlanta with him. I think his name was Dixon."

"You don't mean Daryl Dixon, do you?" Beth asked, suddenly curious. Beth was something of a local history buff, and the Dixon family was one of the oldest, most established families in Georgia. Their lineage traced back to the colonial period of America. They had been a founding family, and then, later, had taken part in the Underground Railroad, much to the surprise of the many plantation owner in Georgia at the time. The Dixons were a big deal.

Beth remembered reading about Daryl Dixon in the local paper – the eldest son of the recently deceased Will Dixon who had inherited the family's entire fortune when the father passed away. She remembered feeling sad for the man, although she never thought she would ever meet him. There had been a picture of him at his father's funeral, all in black, stepping into a dark car. Something about the picture had caused her to tear up, although for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. It was something about the way he was standing – as if he had been defeated. He was probably one of the richest men in the South, yet there he was, no happier than the rest of them. Probably worse off, actually, with all of that money to be responsible for.

"Daryl Dixon," Hershel had said, looking at her in surprise, "that's the one!"

"Oh," had been Beth's only response. She was _really_ curious now.

"Anyway, Mr. Rhee has invited us over to a party he's throwing for all of the investors and their families," Hershel continued, keeping his eye on Beth. "I think the whole town will probably show up eventually. This coming Saturday. But enough dilly-dallying and gossip! The horses aren't going to feed themselves!"

Beth groaned to herself as she sat up. It wasn't that she didn't love her horses – she just didn't want to face the heat.

But she managed to stay distracted for the rest of the day. She was going to a party this Saturday, a fancy, rich person party. Did she have something to wear? Would she have to buy something? Would Sasha, (Beth's best friend from childhood), be going too? Oh, if Sasha was going she would feel a lot better. Would Tara and Rosita manage to behave for once in their lives? And would she get to meet Daryl Dixon? The history nerd in her got really excited. She had so many questions for him, but maybe they wouldn't be appropriate to ask at a party? Beth's mind raced all day.

There was only one thing Beth knew for sure – finally something interesting was happening in this town.

_Hi guys! So as I'm sure you've figured out via my title and this chapter, I'm basically rewriting Pride and Prejudice, but I'm making it modern (so that I'm not plagiarizing the genius Jane Austen word for word). I'ts going to be a looong journey - I'm actually reading P&amp;P while writing this so that I can make this story as accurate and as close to the actual book as I can. The real book itself is actually like 60 chapters, so this will definitely be a condensed version, but I'm expecting it to get pretty long, and all of the main events will be in here but slightly different, modern, and Bethyl-y! I kinda wanted to set it in Austen's time but then I realized that I didn't know enough about the era and that it might get boring for some of you. This is a SLOOOOOOOOW burn story (like actually the slowest, read P&amp;P if you haven't already and you'll know what I mean). I'm sticking really close to the original, so please don't expect Beth and Daryl to just suddenly hook up. This isn't that type of fic! They are acting as my Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy so I'm keeping it as accurate as possible! Also, I have plans to incorporate basically everyone from Team Family into this story as different key characters - some roles are bigger than others, but everyone is in here eventually! I've made Tara and Rosita honorary Greene's. Not everyone is going too have the same personality that they have in TWD, but that's the fun of an AU! Also I plan on writing Lizzie, Mika, and Carl into this story but they're going to be a bit older than they are on TWD. I hope you guys enjoy! I'll update again soon, and I'm also currently writing my update for my other fic, so stick around for that! This author's note got long, oops. Anyway please like and review if you feel like doing so! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – "Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike****_"_**

Excitement came earlier to the Greene farm than expected, as one blistering hot day (only a day or so before the party), Beth, Rosita and Maggie were tending to the chickens, and they noticed a sleek car driving quickly up their road. The car ("Oh wow, a Ferrari!" Rosita had screeched) pulled to a clean stop near the front of their home – and the girls could barely make out the figure of a man stepping out of the car and into the shade of their front porch.

No more than two minutes had passed before Beth noticed the front doors of their house slamming open again – Tara was running as quickly as she could towards the chicken coops, yelling inaudible nonsense and waving around a filthy rag like a maniac:

"—Maggie, Beth, Rosie come on! It's that rich guy! He's talking to dad in the house!"

Rosita yelped excitedly and dropped her basket of eggs in her flurry to get to the house, causing quite a few of them to break.

Maggie and Beth walked calmly behind their sisters.

"What a waste," Maggie said, shaking her head as she bent down to pick up the forgotten basket. "It's like she never learns…"

Beth grinned at her older sister – forever the cool, calm and collected one of the group. It was endearing. Amused, she shook her head and continued forward – she too was curious to see this new stranger.

When they reached the landing of the house, it seemed as though everything had gone quiet – too quiet. Beth and Maggie raised their eyebrows at each other and walked down the hall quickly towards Hershel's study, coming to an abrupt halt when they turned the corner and took in the scene in front of them:

Rosita, Tara, and even Auntie Andrea were all crouched by the closed study doors, pressing their ears against the wood as if trying to hear what was going on inside. Beth chuckled quietly. She was clearly part of a family of lunatics. She and Maggie stepped forward to join their sisters.

"I saw a glimpse of the back of him as he got here," Auntie Andrea whispered next to them, "all I can tell you is that he's got dark hair and walks with confidence…"

Tara snorted loudly at this.

Beth pressed her ear to the door – she could barely make out what her father and Mr. Rhee were saying – she thought she heard something said about Korea.

Suddenly, before she could hear anything else, the loud sound of a piano being played exceptionally badly came from the next room – Shawn must have just gotten home.

Rosita groaned audibly.

"SHAWN, SHUT THE HELL UP," she said yelled loudly, before slapping a hand over her mouth, realizing that she had just given them all away.

Laughter filled the hallway as the girls scattered to different parts of the house, hoping to be hidden by the time Hershel had opened the door to see what the fuss was all about. Beth herself had escaped back out onto the front porch, and picked up a book that was resting on a wicker chair. Pretending to read wouldn't be too suspicious, right? She could hear Auntie Andrea loudly telling Rosita the best way to scrub the coffee pot to clean it properly, and almost snorted with laughter. As if Rosita had ever bothered to wash a dish in her life. Reading a book was way less suspicious.

But as soon as she began to giggle, Beth was cut short when the front door banged open, and Hershel Greene walked out, followed by the handsome visitor. Beth only saw his face for a second, but it was enough to know that he was attractive – _very_ attractive. Well dressed, too, even though he was only in jeans and a dark t-shirt. She watched her father walk his guest back to the fancy car (which, upon closer inspection, _wasn't _a Ferrari) and shake his hand. She watched as Mr. Rhee climbed back into his car and revved the engine, backing up slowly and carefully out of their driveway.

By the time he had left, Hershel had returned to the porch, and stood looking down at Beth with an amused look in his eye.

"That's a good book," he said plainly to her.

She nodded at him, trying to look nonchalant.

"It'd probably be a better book if you were reading it the right side up."

And with that, he turned to go back inside.

Beth turned a deep crimson and looked down at her book. She had been holding it upside down the whole time. Of course. She let out a hearty laugh.

"Did you see him?"

Beth looked up to find Maggie's head poking out the front doors, as if she wasn't sure it was safe to come outside yet.

"Yeah, Mags, I did. You can come out now."

Maggie stalked over to her sister and sat beside her. "I saw him too, just for a second as he walked past the kitchen. He's handsome."

"Sure is," Beth said with a knowing smile. "Looks like he's just your type, too."

"Oh hush Bethie."

…..

When the big day finally arrived, the Greene farm found itself facing utter chaos. No one could sit still, everything seemed to be going wrong, and none of the girls could focus. Shawn wasn't helping either – he kept trying to gather everyone in the music room upstairs to show them the new song he'd learned that he wanted to play at the party.

"_No one cares about your stupid song, Shawn_," Tara had yelled at him from her bedroom down the hallway, after he had tried to pull her out of the room for the third time that morning. "We have other shit to worry about."

"Like looking hot!" Rosita added. She and Tara had shared a bedroom since birth, and the two of them did a great job of turning the space inside out with clutter and heaps of unfolded laundry.

Beth and Maggie shared the room across from theirs – and the difference was tangible. Their room faced the front of the farm, and the giant open window that they shared often bathed the room in a beautiful golden light. It was a spacious room, and always kept very tidy and neat. Maggie and Beth each had a thing for candles, and on any given day, you could walk into their room and be greeted with the scent of lavender.

On this particular Saturday afternoon, Beth was trying in vain to follow a confusing YouTube video tutorial so that she could create the perfect waterfall braid in her sister's hair. She wanted Maggie to look beautiful tonight – not that this was hard, her sister was clearly the most gorgeous girl in all of Georgia – but Beth wanted to try something new.

"Ouch, Bethie, don't pull so hard!"

"Oh, sorry Mags! This video is all over the place, I don't think I know what I'm doing..."

"You seem distracted Beth, what's up?"

Beth looked in the mirror at her sister, who was sitting at their vanity, allowing Beth to tug and pull her short hair every which way. Maggie was talented in the art of reading her sister – she always knew when something was on Beth's mind.

"Okay, this is gonna sound really lame, but I'm kind of excited to meet Daryl Dixon tonight."

Maggie grinned at her. "That's because you're a huge nerd, Bethie. It's not lame though, I promise!" she added with a grin, when Beth smacked at her shoulder playfully.

"It's just that his family is so interesting! I learned all about them in that lecture I took a few years ago at school – remember when I was all excited about that class? It was all about Southern activists during the Antebellum period, and people who were helping to fight slavery and all that. I have so many questions for him…"

Beth trailed off for a moment, a happy, glazed look coming over her face as she remembered. She really was a huge history buff – she had gotten a Bachelor's degree in American history – the past fascinated her much more than the present ever had.

"Ooookay silly, let's find you something to wear before you get too caught up in your daydreams and forget that we have a party to get to."

Beth came back down to reality, remembering that she still hadn't found an outfit. Damn it.

Suddenly, shouting came from the other room:

"ROSITA YOU STEPPED ON MY DRESS, YOU BITCH!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU LEFT IT ON THE GROUND, STUPID, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WAS YOUR DRESS?"

"YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING, I SWEAR TO G—"

"GIRLS," Auntie Andrea shouted from downstairs, "IF YOU BOTH DON'T SHUT UP AND STOP FIGHTING THIS INSTANT, I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO TO THE PARTY TONIGHT!"

Maggie and Beth looked at each other and grinned. This was practically normal in the Greene household. Their sisters quieted down, but she could still hear them whispering furiously at each other across the way.

"Oh, I hope they behave," Maggie said with a sign, giving a voice to the very same thought that Beth had just had.

"They won't," Beth said with a sigh. Maggie snorted and stood up.

"C'mon Bethie, I know exactly what you should wear tonight…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt ****_me"_**

By the time they pulled up to the front of the lodge for the party, Beth was already fidgeting with nerves. She was sitting in the back of the car with Maggie – who looked amazing. Her sister had decided to go with a beautiful lacy white maxi dress and a pair of white wedges to match. It was the perfect contrast to her golden, tan skin. She looked like the perfect southern belle – especially with the braid in her hair that Beth had finally perfected after about ten tries.

Beth was feeling a little less confident in her own appearance – Maggie had managed to convince her to wear one of the tighter fitting blue dresses she owned (and had never had the guts to wear before). She had bought it in an Anthropologie store a few months ago when she was still living near Atlanta – something about it had seemed sophisticated and elegant – but then she'd never had an occasion to wear it. It was figure0hugging, and ended right at her knees – it was also much more low-cut than anything else Beth owned. Maggie had even convinced her to apply a bit of red lipstick. Beth couldn't stop worrying if it had faded from her mouth or not. She was a bundle of nerves.

"Beth, stop moving around so much, you're making me nervous."

"I can't, I'm nervous!"

"Why?" Her sister looked at her questioningly. "This'll be fun! We've never been to an expensive party like this before…"

"I dunno Mags, I just feel silly in this dress now."

"Beth," her sister said seriously, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, "you look absolutely breathtaking, don't you dare doubt yourself for a second."

And with that, the car came to a stop, and Maggie pulled her sister up and out into the warm night. Auntie Andrea rolled down the front window – "You girls head on inside, I need to find somewhere to park the car. Your Daddy and the others should be here any second."

And with that, she drove off in the direction of the other cars – so many other cars. Beth could hear music and laughter coming from inside the giant building, which sparkled with beautifully hung lights. This party was much bigger than she imagined it would be, and this comforted her.

She and Maggie made their way toward the large front doors that were being held open by two men in identical black suits.

As they stepped inside, Beth barely had enough time to look at the gigantic, beautiful lobby (made mostly of marble), before she was surprised by a voice.

"Beth!"

Beth turned on the spot, breaking into a wide grin. "Sasha! I wasn't sure you'd be here!"

Her best friend, Sasha Williams, was walking toward her happily, dressed to the nines in a gorgeous olive-green dress that sparkled in the light.

"Tyreese was invited – he's helping invest in this place and let me come as his plus one! Hey Maggie!"

She and Maggie hugged each other before Sasha moved to link arms with Beth.

"This place is nuts, Bethie. Wait 'till you see where the party is being held. There's this gorgeous courtyard that they've set up with a dance floor, a live band, an open bar – everything! And everyone looks so good… they invited some of the Naval officers, even your cousin Carl is in town!"

Beth couldn't wait. They walked down a long hallway that was full of people milling about, and as they slowly turned a wide corner, Beth drank in the sights before her. Sasha was right – the place _was_ stunning. Clearly, Mr. Rhee had already completed the renovations on this section of the lodge, because everything seemed to sparkle. There was a bar made entirely of crystalline glass, and the dance floor was packed with people she knew. Practically the whole town had been invited. Around the sides of the courtyard, someone had set up luxurious red couches and plush chairs to sit on. Beth looked around, hoping to get a glimpse of Mr. Rhee and his friend, Daryl Dixon.

"They're not here yet," Sasha said pointedly, noticing Beth's wandering eye.

"Beth… Maggie!"

The girls turned to find their favorite cousin walking quickly toward them with a giant grin plastered on his face. Carl Grimes had just recently turned 19, and a year ago had joined the Navy. They hadn't seen him for quite some time.

"Oh look at how grown up you look!" Maggie exclaimed excitedly as she moved to hug her cousin. Carl was now a foot taller than her, and looked dashing in his formal uniform. "Are your parents here too?"

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere," Carl responded. "Michonne was trying to find a bathroom for Andre and Judith last time I checked – they've already spilled stuff on themselves…"

Andre and Judith were Beth's other cousins, both were rambunctious seven year olds – she couldn't imagine what a hassle it would be to have to deal with two little kids at a fancy event like this.

Suddenly, Rosita and Tara stumbled into the courtyard, both clearly already tipsy. They whistled loudly at a group of Naval officers and went over to flirt loudly with them.

Scratch that – Beth knew _exactly_ what it was like to deal with two little kids at fancy events like this. She shook her head and crossed her fingers, hoping that her siblings would behave for once in their lives.

"Want me to keep an eye on those two for ya?"

Beth turned back to her little group and noticed that her Uncle Rick had joined them, with his arm around his son's shoulder. She beamed at him.

"Nah, they're bound to get up to something regardless of who's watching them," she responded, leaning in to give her uncle and cousin quick kisses on their cheeks. Rick was fidgeting in his three piece suit. Beth laughed.

"Don't laugh too loudly or your aunt might hear it," Rick said in a mock-worried tone, "Michonne practically had to wrestle me to get me into this stupid thing."

"It was hilarious," Carl added with a grin at his dad.

"Yeah, for you maybe," Rick retorted good-naturedly, ruffling his son's hair.

"What was hilarious?"

Beth's Aunt Michonne had joined the group, each of her hands taken up by her two other children. She was wearing a deep red dress, and looked breathtaking. Beth noticed Uncle Rick staring at her appreciatively. She smiled to herself – Michonne had been a godsend after her Auntie Lori had died seven years ago in childbirth. It didn't seem like Rick would ever find happiness again until Michonne had moved to town and all but changed his life. She kicked his ass into gear, and everyone in town agreed that the Sheriff and his wife were the best guests to invite to any dinner party – it was hard to choose who was more hilarious.

But before Uncle Rick could open his mouth to make up something to say, the entire room seemed to go rather quiet. Beth, Sasha, and Maggie all turned to look behind them – their hosts had arrived to the party – and it seemed like everyone in town wanted to get a good look at them.

Glenn Rhee was much better looking that even Beth had given him credit for – although to be fair, she had only seen him for a split second. He was tall, slim, but clearly built, and had an easygoing smile and floppy dark hair that only added to his boyish good-looks. He was in a sleek tuxedo, and looked completely in his element.

Beside him were his two sisters – apparently named Lizzie and Mika (Maggie had whispered this fact quietly into her ear). They were both stunning in their own rights – they were in what looked like designer gowns, and both had gorgeous, flowing blonde hair. Lizzie looked slightly older than Mika – probably in her mid-twenties, and had almost a haughty look about her. She seemed like the kind of girl who could model in Vogue magazine. ("I heard that they're his adopted sisters," Maggie whispered again in her ear.) Beth felt somewhat intimidated by them.

But then her eyes were pulled to the other man standing next to Glenn Rhee. There he was, in the flesh. Daryl Dixon. Beth felt her breath catch in her throat – sure she was excited to ask him about his family, but she never would have guessed that he would be _hot_. And not just _kind of_ attractive , but really, really handsome. And rugged. And mysterious. He had shaggy dark hair that fell a little past his eyes, which looked light and speculative. He too was muscular, and had opted for a nice shirt and a vest with dark dress pants rather than a tuxedo. There was something hypnotic about watching him, but Beth couldn't peel her eyes away.

She stared at him as he glared around the room, and pulled a cigar out of his lapel. He leaned in to say something to Lizzie and she let out a tinkling laugh.

"Beth? Earth to Beth…"

Beth turned back to her group. Sasha was grinning at her. "You back?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was just looking at them…"

"They're all so pretty," Sasha sighed, "I was gonna get a drink, you want one?"

Beth followed her friend to the bar, turning her head to look behind her once, just to catch a glimpse of him again. He was staring right at her. She blushed, turned back to Sasha, and ordered a martini. Maybe he would come and talk to her…

….

As the evening progressed, Beth noticed people starting to get really drunk. Shawn had clearly had a few shots of something, because at every chance he could get, he would try to get the band to let him play a few songs on their piano. Thankfully, they wouldn't allow him on the stage, and Beth breathed a sigh of relief.

Her other sisters, Tara and Rosita had been making a scene in one corner of the courtyard, where they and a couple of officers had begun to play drinking games. Beth spotted a few of her friends from the Naval base, Noah and Aaron, laughing with the rest of them, and growing increasingly louder by the minute.

She noticed Rick and Michonne on the dance floor, swaying back and forth with ease to a slow song that was currently playing. Carl had taken his siblings off of their hands for a few minutes, and Michonne had pulled Uncle Rick to the dance floor. He didn't seem to mind much, though. Beth smiled when she saw her aunt rest her head on Rick's shoulder. It was sweet.

The best thing that had happened tonight, though, happened to Maggie. She seemed to be flying on a cloud – and it was all thanks to Glenn Rhee, who had taken notice of her only an hour ago, and hadn't left her side since. Beth had been speaking with her sister and Tyreese when Mr. Rhee had approached them. They had all fallen silent, and he had awkwardly cleared his throat. It was cute – he actually seemed nervous to talk to Maggie.

"I was just wondering if I could steal you away for a dance – I figured I would at least try and get the prettiest woman in the room to dance with me."

Beth was floored – what a line! Maggie had blushed deep scarlet and nodded. As Glenn took her hand and led her towards the dance floor, Beth saw Maggie turn her head back and mouth _OHMYGOD! _at her. Beth grinned, happy that her sister was getting the attention she deserved. She watched them dance for a minute, before deciding to leave them to their private moment.

"You know, he's a millionaire…," Tyreese had said under his breath at Beth. She raised her eyebrows at him in shock. She had never met a millionaire before.

"And his friend," Tyreese continued, "I hear he's worth a billion dollars all on his own."

Somehow, this news didn't shock Beth. Old families like the Dixon's were worth incredible sums of money. But it still felt strange to be standing in a room with such rich people – she had never really been to an event like this before.

She snuck a look at Daryl Dixon again. He had stayed in relatively the same place all night – one of the corners of the courtyards, sitting in a plush couch next to the gorgeous Rhee sisters. He hadn't spoken to anyone other than his own group all night, and people were beginning to question his manners – this was the South after all, where manners maketh man.

"It's rather rude," her Auntie Andrea noted at one point during the evening, "don't you agree, Bethie?"

Beth shrugged. She didn't wan to give it much thought. Beth had been having a wonderful time – she found herself dancing with multiple different Naval officers – many of whom she had known for a few years. Everyone knew everyone else in this town, that was just how it worked. But finally, she found herself growing a little tired, and decided to head to the outskirts of the courtyard so that she could kick off her heels and sit for a moment.

Beth noticed that she was in earshot of Daryl Dixon and his companions. And before she knew it, she was listening in on a conversation he and Glenn were having.

"Daryl, you don't seem like you're having any fun. Don't you want to dance? Mingle a little? Might be good to meet some of the people, or at least go strike up a conversation with someone pretty…"

Beth noticed Daryl smirk at his friend.

"You found the prettiest girl in the room, Glenn. 'Ain't much for me to do anyway."

Beth found herself flushing at how deep his voice was – and he had harsh Georgian accent, despite all of the world-class schooling he had probably been through. It was pretty sexy…she didn't want to find him attractive, but it was like she couldn't help herself.

"Yeah, Maggie is something else, isn't she? She's really witty too, I can't seem to stay away from her…I think I'm gonna go ask her to dance again in a few minutes."

Beth beamed to herself. She was glad that Glenn had taken a liking to Maggie. No man in his right mind _wouldn't_ find her sister beautiful, but he seemed to notice how smart and cool she was, too. Beth couldn't stop smiling.

"But Daryl," Glenn continued persistently, "we're the hosts of this party. People are going to expect you to mingle and dance. There are tons of great people to meet – look – over there – that's Maggie's sister. Her name is Beth, I think. She's got the pretty gene too, don't you think?"

Beth pretended not to hear them, looking out over the dance floor and trying not to turn bright red. She was anxiously anticipating Daryl Dixon's response. And what a response it was:

"Yeah, she's okay, I guess. Nothin' special though."

And there it was. Beth felt a surge of anger press through her. But then, she didn't know Daryl Dixon from Adam, why care if he didn't think she was pretty?

It was really too bad that Daryl Dixon was so handsome after all – all of those good looks did nothing to cover up what a complete ass he was. What a waste.

And so Beth sat up, slipped on her shoes, and stood up as tall as she could. She even pulled out her tube of lipstick and reapplied it to her mouth. Then she raised her chin and strutted past both men, stopping only for a split second to look Daryl Dixon in his hard, cold eyes, and flash him the most aggressive smile she could muster. She noticed a faint blush crawl up his cheek – he knew she had heard him. But by then, she had moved on, strutting gracefully into the crowd and onto the dance floor with Sasha. She wouldn't let a pompous ass like Daryl Dixon ruin her night. He didn't hold that kind of power over her. Not a chance.

….

_I posted two chapters at once because I'm so in love with writing this story that I couldn't just stop at one! I'm having SUCH a blast with this, I hope you guys are all enjoying reading it. Please review and like if you feel so inclined! It always makes my day better :) Thanks for reading! So much more to come!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – "I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."**

_**(Volume I, Chapters 4-6 of the actual Pride and Prejudice, in case you want to read those chapters first).**_

"Nothing special?! NOTHING SPECIAL?!"

Maggie had stood up from her bed in outrage.

"Shhhh, Mags, you'll wake the whole house!"

"Oh please, Bethie, everyone's too drunk to be woken."

Beth giggled. It was true – she and Maggie were still extremely tipsy. The night had been a success for the most part – and the two sisters had stayed up later than everyone else, whispering at each other from across their bedroom, a lone candle still flickering dimly on the windowsill.

"He _really_ said you were 'nothing special'?"

Beth nodded, giggling again. She was just too drunk to feel offended. It was rather funny, really.

"Actually," Beth responded with a grin, "it was more like 'nothin' special…' you know, with more of a Southern drawl."

"Oh, so he's not just a huge douche-bag, he's a huge douche-bag with a huge douche-baggy accent," Maggie responded sarcastically, "please pardon my mistake."

Peals of laughter erupted from both women as they realized what a stupid conversation they were having.

But as they began to calm down, Beth's face lit up with another grin.

"Glenn Rhee seemed really taken with you, Mags. Did you like him?"

It was too dark to tell, but Beth could have sworn her sister was blushing.

"I did, yeah," Maggie responded quietly, "he's a really cool guy. So intelligent, and very kind."

"He seemed like it," Beth replied, "it's too bad about his sisters, though."

"Oh Beth, don't be mean," Maggie said looking at her sharply, "Lizzie and Mika were perfectly nice to me when he introduced us."

"Yeah because they were with Glenn. You should have heard some of the crap they were spewing when they thought other people couldn't hear them, Mags."

Maggie shook her head. "I refuse to think badly of people that I know nothing about."

Beth sighed at this. Her sister was always the bigger person – always ready to see the good in everyone. Then she laughed.

"Maggie, you just called Daryl Dixon a douche bag like three hundred times in the last minute, you hypocrite."

Maggie snorted.

"Fine," she said, looking over at her sister across the dark room, " I refuse to think badly of people I know nothing about, unless they're huge douche-bags who disrespect my beautiful, wonderful, intelligent sister whom I love with all my heart and soul."

Beth smiled. "I love you too, Maggie."

"GIRLS IF YOU BOTH DON'T SHUT UP AND GET TO SLEEP, I SWEAR TO CHRIST YOU WILL BE WORKING OUTSDIE IN THE SWEALTERING HEAT WITH THE SWEATY HORSES ALL DAY TOMORROW"

Auntie Andrea's room was only just down the hall. And she was a light sleeper – even, apparently, while drunk.

_Uh oh_, Beth thought to herself as she tried to stifle the hysterical laughter that was bubbling up in her chest. Maybe she and Maggie hadn't been as quiet as they thought…

…

Glenn Rhee and Daryl Dixon were in a similar situation, a few miles down the road. Although Glenn's sisters had gone to bed, he and Daryl had stayed up late, sitting in one of the billiard rooms, drunkenly playing pool.

They had both agreed upon the success of the evening – Glenn had made the acquaintance of every investor in town – and he had met who he believed to be the most beautiful and enticing woman on the planet – Maggie Greene.

Daryl was ultimately happy for his friend. He didn't much like staying in this town, but he wanted to support Glenn, and really did need a vacation from the city and his responsibilities to his estate.

Daryl Dixon had always been a supporter of Glenn Rhee's, ever since their friendship had begun a decade ago when they met through a mutual friend. Since then, Glenn had come to Daryl for advice on practically everything – he looked up to Daryl Dixon almost like an older brother. Daryl didn't see himself as superior to Glenn in any way, but he did often assume the role of advisor equally as much as he assumed the role of friend. He had grown up in a family that wrought iron rules, and always had sound judgment – even though he couldn't always keep a level head. But growing up in such a rich, well-known family had had its drawbacks. When he was younger, people often assumed that Daryl was haughty and smug – and as he had grown older he assumed these traits as a coping mechanism. Give the people what they want and then they'll leave you alone to your business – that was his motto.

That night, they spoke about many things – but the conversation always turned back to this town. Glenn loved it here.

"The women are beautiful, the people are welcoming, and it's so relaxing to be staying this far away from the city," Glenn had said to Daryl, rubbing his eyes with sleepiness. "I may never want to go back."

Daryl scoffed at this. Ridiculous. He himself had found the town rather boring, the people equally as uninteresting, and the women just like the women everywhere else in the world. But if his friend was happy here, then he would be happy to stay a little while longer. At least here he had the time (and the place) to go hunting again, for the first time since his father had died.

As for Glenn's newfound admiration of Maggie Greene – well, Daryl could see the appeal. She was certainly beautiful, but even she didn't impress him much. Her family seemed loud and invasive – there were too many Greene's, as if they had taken over this town like weeds. The image of Beth Greene sitting alone, taking her shoes off swam drunkenly though his mind – no, he wouldn't think about Beth Greene. She was just like the rest of them.

…..

Over the course of the next few days, the Greene family came into contact with the Rhee family on several occasions. The first happened while Auntie Andrea was out at the mechanic, looking to get the only motorcycle they owned repaired. She had come home all in a flurry – she had bumped into Lizzie and Mika while waiting for her estimate. They had come in to get the oil changed for a pretty, white convertible they had been seen driving around town in.

"They seemed very well-mannered," Auntie Andrea had told the girls (and a bored Shawn). "But I don't see why they would drive a white car out here in the country – half of our roads are made of dirt! It's not like it'll stay white for long. And why would they want to ride around in a convertible in this heat anyway? It all seems rather stupid. But when I told them that, they looked at me like I had just called their mother a whore."

"Oh God," Beth groaned, "you told Lizzie and Mika Rhee that they were stupid? Auntie, why would you do something like that? What they do is their business! You can't just go around calling strangers stupid."

"Sweetie, you know I have no filter," her Aunt replied with a smirk in her direction, "It's one of the reasons why I've got two divorces under my belt."

Tara guffawed. "Fair point, Auntie A."

"All I know is if I ever run into those two, I'm pretending we aren't related," Beth replied to her aunt, in mock defeat.

And run into them, she did.

While Beth, Sasha, Tyreese, and Maggie were out one night at the only bar in town, who would walk in but Glenn Rhee, his two gorgeous sisters, and Daryl Dixon. Glenn had made a beeline for the bar, where Maggie was standing and waiting for a drink. He had invited them to share a table with him and his party immediately.

Lizzie and Mika had been nice enough in the beginning of the evening. They asked Beth about her degree, told Sasha that they loved her outfit – they had all the markings of nice, respectable women. Daryl Dixon had remained mostly silent, getting up occasionally to have a smoke outside.

At one point, Maggie and Glenn had stood up to dance – since quite a few people had started dancing in one of the corners of the bar.

"C'mon Daryl, come with us. Beth, you too!" Glenn had said. Beth could see Maggie's eyes widen with horror – she knew how much distain Beth had for the Daryl Dixon. Sasha kicked her under the table.

"Oh," Beth had said quickly, "Don't worry about – "

" – you know I don't dance, Glenn," Daryl Dixon had retorted at exactly the same time, glowering in her direction. There was an awkward pause, until Glenn shrugged.

"Suit yourselves." And then he and Maggie were off.

To break the ice, Tyreese had tried to start a conversation with Daryl, but it seemed mostly one sided.

"So, you're from Atlanta then?"

"Mhm," had been Daryl Dixon's only response.

"Is it true your family owns the oldest house in Georgia?"

"One of 'em, in Savannah." Daryl barely looked at him. In fact, he had instead flashed his eyes in Beth's direction once again, who had flushed angrily and looked at the floor. She didn't like being looked at by him (even though she _was_ eavesdropping) – it unsettled her. What business did he have, looking at her anyway? Wasn't she supposed to be 'nothin' special'?

As the hour awkwardly progressed, and the drinks flowed freely, the Rhee girls slowly became cattier and Daryl Dixon kept escaping to smoke more cigarettes. Soon, the women were laughing under their breaths at the way 'that stupid, fat girl dances' or the 'ugly fake-gold necklace ' someone else was wearing, and Daryl Dixon was quite literally nowhere to be seen. Beth, Sasha, and Tyreese were entirely excluded from the conversation, and Maggie and Glenn were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything. Beth soon gave up entirely in trying to be civil.

"Nice to officially meet you," she had said with a forced smile at the Rhee sisters, as she grabbed Sasha by the arm and dragged her over to the bar to get away from the table. Tyreese followed them quickly.

"Eugh, finally," Sasha had said when they reached a couple of barstools. "It's not rude of us to leave them there, is it?"

Tyreese laughed heartily at his sister.

Beth turned to look back at the table – Glenn and Maggie had stood up to go inspect the old jukebox standing in the corner of the bar, and Lizzie and Mika had been left to themselves. They seemed to be unfazed by the sudden disappearance of their group. The two girls were still whispering things in each other's ears and hissing with laughter. Beth's grin faded. They were probably still just saying horrible things about the other patrons of the bar.

"I think they can manage without us," Beth said to Sasha, drily.

"Those two look cozy," Tyreese muttered, nodding his head in the direction of Maggie and Glenn.

"Yeah," Beth responded with a smile. "I think Mags really likes him."

"Really?" Sahsa replied, her eyes widening, "I actually wasn't sure. You can never really tell with Maggie, can you?"

"She's guarded," Beth explained, nodding in agreement. Her sister had been burned one too many times by men – it made sense that she now approached romance with extreme caution. But she did really seem to like Glenn. "She's into him though – told me so herself a couple of times."

"Yeah, but does _he_ know?"

"What do you mean?" Beth asked curiously.

"Well," Sasha began, "it's just that Maggie _always_ tells _you_ how she feels, and that's why _you_ always know how she feels. But the rest of us don't hear what you hear, and if Glenn isn't sure that she likes him, he might give up on it or something. You know how iffy men can be about stuff like that."

"We're not iffy!" Tyreese had exclaimed in mock offense.

"Oh don't even get me started on you," Sasha had said with a grin at her brother, "you couldn't even find a date until Karen took pity on you."

"Fair enough," he responded, "but now _I've_ got a fiancée and y'all are still sitting at this bar single. So who's laughing now?"

Beth laughed before turning to look over at Maggie and Glenn again. It was clear to _her_ that Maggie was happy with him. But from an outsider's perspective, maybe it wasn't so obvious. Maggie still kept a small distance between herself and Glenn. She had even refused to give him her number – she had exchanged emails with him instead. "It's just more comfortable for me this way," she had explained to Beth. Maybe Sasha had a point. Beth would make sure to bring it up to her sister the next time she had a chance. Speaking of Maggie:

"Hey," her sister said to her, suddenly at her side. "We should head home, it's getting late."

"You sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" Beth asked her, nodding ever so slightly in Glenn's direction. He had gone back to sit with his sisters.

"No, it's ok. He's invited me over for dinner sometime next week. I'll see him then."

Beth smiled. Baby steps. Maybe Maggie had finally found a good guy after all.

….

Daryl Dixon had escaped out back for a smoke, and ended up staying outside longer than he'd intended.

He didn't like it here. People asked him too many questions, they wanted to get to know him, and it made him uncomfortable. That, and he'd caught Beth Greene's eye one too many times for his liking. It was starting to freak him out a little. They were very blue and pretty – he wondered how he hadn't noticed them before.

So he'd come outside for a smoke – he wanted to be alone. He should have known it would be too much to ask.

"I bet I know exactly what you're thinking," he heard a voice say from behind him.

Damn it. It was Lizzie. She had been following him around like a puppy for the past few weeks, batting her eyelashes and swishing her hair around. Although really, it had been like this for years – ever since her 22nd birthday. Daryl didn't know how to shake her, plus he didn't want to offend Glenn, so he let her follow him around and even put up with the flirting. Not that he enjoyed it – but then, he didn't enjoy much of anything these days, so there was really no harm done.

"Oh yeah?" he responded gruffly, "Let's hear it, then."

Lizzie sauntered over to him, definitely drunk. "Let's see, you're probably thinking about how much you hate this town and all of its stupid little people. And I couldn't agree with you more – they're all idiots, no sense of class or style. I don't know _why_ Glenn is so anxious to build a hotel here."

"Actually," Daryl responded casually, "you're wrong. I wasn't thinkin' 'bout this town, I was thinkin' about a specific someone."

"Someone?" Lizzie perked up at this, bristling with drunken jealousy.

_Oh what the hell, _Daryl thought. He could come clean and she probably wouldn't even remember it in the morning – hell, maybe Lizzie would even back off if he talked about another woman. He took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Yep, someone."

"What about someone?"

"I was just thinkin' about how pretty someone's eyes are."

Lizzie laughed at this – she seemed sure he was messing with her. "Oh, and who's eyes are keeping you so deep in thought out here in the cold?"

"Beth Greene's."

He said it plainly.

"Beth Greene's?" Lizzie guffawed loudly, "Beth Greene's?! Ha! You know, you're much funnier than people give you credit for, Dixon. Could you imagine? That horrible Andrea woman would never leave you alone. Beth Greene…oh, it's _too_ good."

Daryl remained silent – he had expected this. Lizzie was, after all, one of the rudest women he had ever met in his life. But he didn't rush to Beth's defense either. He just liked her eyes, that was all. Nothing more. Well, if he really thought about it, her face was nice enough too. But he wasn't really going to admit that to himself, let alone tell it to Lizzie Rhee.

And with that, Lizzie grabbed his cigarette out of his hand, took a drag, handed it back to him, and sauntered back inside, still shaking with laughter.

Daryl Dixon looked back down at his cigarette, which now had the faint red mark of lipstick on it. He quickly dropped it to the ground and stepped on it, effectively putting it out. He quickly reached into his pocket to light a new one, his mind still trying to recreate the exact blue that he had seen in Beth Greene's eyes.

_..._

_So, as you can see, sometimes I do actually slip into Daryl's perspective - but I'm following the book VERY closely, and sometimes Jane Austen gives us scenes where we get to kind of see what Darcy is up to when Lizzie Bennet isn't the main focus. So the only times I'm going to write from Daryl's POV is when it happens in the book with Darcy :) Also, I really am going chapter by chapter here, trying to get as many scenes from the book into this fic as I can, so if you want to follow along, this chapter was a combination of Volume 1, chapter 4-6 in the book! I'm going to start adding that in the title in case you guys are curious or anything. Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying this! Please leave a review if you feel like doing so :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – "I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain."**

**(Volume 1 Chapters 7- the beginning of 8 in Pride and Prejudice)**

The Greene Family farm was by no means a large estate – when compared to other farms, it actually appeared to be rather small. But it was enough to house a variety of animals, harvest an assortment of crops, and keep the entire family busy with work year-round. Not only were they a farm, but Hershel Greene was also the only licensed veterinarian for miles. The girls worked tirelessly to keep the place running while their father tended to sick animals – but on afternoons off, they were often seen walking into town.

The town in question was called Sardis. It was a small, mostly rural section of Georgia, equidistant between Atlanta and the ocean (a 3 hour drive either way). It was mostly comprised of families who had lived there for generations – everyone knew everyone else, nothing was ever kept a secret for long. Other than the families, the town was a temporary home to many Naval officers and recruits. The Naval base brought in dozens of new boys (and some girls) each year to train and ship off, and the newcomers were often the center of attention in Sardis.

The center of the town was a small four-block radius of shops, restaurants, bars, and a solitary martial arts school. Admittedly, it wasn't much – but to Beth Greene, it was home. It also happened to be where her Aunt Michonne and Uncle Rick (the town Sheriff) lived with their children – in the large apartment above the school for martial arts that Michonne owned and operated. For this reason, Beth and her siblings were always in town on weekends – and sometimes even on lazy weekday afternoons. Beth and Maggie liked to visit their little cousins and watch Michonne teach the local children karate. Shawn often tagged along so that he could sit in the local coffee shop and read Nietzsche in peace ("it's the only place I can really be myself" he would say dramatically to Beth, who roller her eyes at him). Tara and Rosita came to town with them too, but only to run off to find the newest Naval recruits – 'fresh meat' they called them. Rosita was a huge flirt, and Tara was always happy to tag along.

This particular Friday morning, as the entire Greene family sat around their table eating pancakes and sipping orange juice, Tara and Rosita were telling a particularly raunchy story about the time they spied Noah and a few of his Navy friends skinny dipping in the local lake. Usually, a story like this one would have Hershel raising his eyebrows and questioning his daughter's judgment – but today he was in a delightful mood, and laughed along with the rest of the family as Rosita casually mentioned how the naked boys had shrieked like little girls when they first jumped into the cold water.

"You know," Tara whispered to Beth, with a glint in her eye, "they say that a guy's…you-know-what shrinks in cold water. Ever seen it in person, Bethie?"

Beth snorted into her orange juice and quickly elbowed her sister in the rib. "Shut up, Tara."

"What are you two whispering about?" Hershel asked, turning to Beth.

Tara turned red.

"Oh nothing Daddy," Beth replied hastily, turning her eyes back down to her plate and shoveling a huge mouthful of pancake into her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Maggie," their Aunt Andrea said abruptly, cutting off all other conversation, "aren't you meeting Glenn Rhee for dinner tonight?"

"Oh, I was," Maggie replied, playing with the frayed edges of her napkin, "but he had to catch an overnight plane to Atlanta for some reason and wanted to reschedule."

"That's too bad," Hershel said lightly.

"His sister Lizzie invited me over for dinner, though, and I accepted because I didn't want to seem rude."

Beth shook her head – Maggie was always getting roped into doing things she didn't want to do because she wanted to avoid seeming rude.

"Well I was going to tell you," Andrea continued, "I can't let you have the car – I need it this evening to take the Jefferson's their dog back – your father is going to set his leg later on this afternoon, and I wanted to take Bruno back to Mrs. Jefferson sooner rather than later – you know how she worries about that dog."

"That's fine," Maggie said with a nod, "I'll take the bike – you had the engine fixed last week, right?"

Andrea nodded. But Beth didn't like this idea.

"Maggie, you haven't ridden the motorcycle in years, you're out of practice," she said quickly to her sister. "Plus, it's supposed to rain tonight – you don't want to ride in the rain!"

"Don't worry Bethie, I'll be careful."

And with that, Maggie stood up, collected some of the empty plates, and walked into the kitchen.

All the same, Beth knew she was bound to worry.

…..

And worry she did. Later that same day, as the sun began to set, Beth couldn't focus on her chores. She was too preoccupied with thoughts of her sister. Maggie had ridden off to meet the Rhee girls a few hours ago, but she hadn't called or texted yet.

It turned out, her worries were well-founded. That night, Beth's cellphone rang, and she rushed to pick it up.

"Maggie?"

"Hey Bethie…"

"Are you okay Mags? Why aren't you home yet?"

"Well…this is kind of a long, embarrassing story, and I need you to promise not to freak out, okay….?"

"Well now I'm _really_ worried," Beth replied, biting at her fingernails.

"I think I should preface this by saying that I'm totally fine now, nothing but a couple of stitches and a bruised ego – "

" – a couple of _what_?!"

Beth heard her sister sigh into the phone.

"You were right. Taking the bike out in the rain was a stupid thing to do, and when I got to the Lodge, the bike slipped as I was slowing down to brake and I fell off of it. And then it fell on top of me. So now I have stitches on my calf because I scraped it pretty hard against the ground and the Rhee girls have been really nice. They called Doctor Ford and he came over and stitched me up. But he says I can't walk on it for at least a few days, so now I'm sitting in one of the empty bedrooms here at the Lodge…oh God, Bethie, this is so embarrassing. But I think I have to stay here for at least a day or so…maybe more. I can't get up yet."

Beth was silent. She didn't like being right – especially not when it meant that her sister had hurt herself. But she was glad to hear that her sister was fine now.

"We're gonna have to tell Daddy," Beth said evenly.

"I know," Maggie replied. "I'm sorry!"

At first, Hershel had started to panic when Beth told him what had happened. She quickly dialed her sister back and had Maggie explain everything to him. By the time he hung up with his eldest daughter, he seemed to have calmed down considerably.

"It sounds like they're taking good care of her over there," he said to Beth, who was standing in his study with him. "She just needs to stay off her leg for a few days and then we can bring her home. I'm glad those Rhee girls thought to call the doctor."

Abraham Ford was the only doctor in town – a Navy doctor, but a good one nonetheless.

Beth suddenly had a thought.

"Daddy, I have to go see her tomorrow. She needs some clothes if she's going to be staying there with them for a few days. And maybe a toothbrush."

Hershel nodded at her. "Good idea, sweetheart. You can call her tomorrow and let her know."

…..

The next morning, Beth set out bright and early for the Lodge. It was a beautiful, sunny day, the rain had finally let up. The countryside was green, beautiful – _and muddy_, Beth thought to herself as she accidentally squelched her way through another patch of gooey dirt.

Beth had decided to walk to the Lodge from the farm – it was a long walk, but the day was so beautiful, and Auntie Andrea still needed the car. The only problem was that there were no direct roads that led from the farm to the Lodge – Beth was cutting through thin areas of woods and open fields to get to where she was going. And she was getting filthier by the second. She couldn't even see the red lining on her cowboy boots anymore – they were too covered in mud.

But Beth hoisted her backpack up higher on her shoulders and pressed on. Days like this one were her favorite kind. The air had a sweet smell to it, and the leftover drops of water on the trees and grass made everything sparkle in the sunlight. It was almost disappointing when she spotted the Lodge in the distance – she wanted to lay down amongst the trees and stay outside, rather than face those two horrible girls…and Daryl Dixon, probably. She braced herself and pushed forward, eventually coming to a stop at the large front doors.

She was let in by one of the housekeepers. It didn't surprise her to discover that there was a small staff of people working at the Lodge, taking after Glenn Rhee, his sisters, and his rude friend. The housekeeper led her down a long hallway and stopped outside of a mahogany door. She knocked.

"Come in," Beth heard Mika say from behind the door.

The housekeeper swung the door open and motioned for Beth to move inside. She did so tentatively.

The room itself was gorgeous – much like the rest of the Lodge. This room faced the left side of the property, with gigantic windows that looked over what used to be a golf course. Now, the room was being used as a dining room. As Beth stepped over the threshold, she noticed that Lizzie, Mika, and Daryl Dixon were all sitting around a table eating breakfast when she entered. Everyone looked at her.

There was a loud scraping sound as Daryl Dixon stood up from his chair when Beth entered the room. She turned bright red. She wondered how someone with such good outward manners could be so mean on the inside. She wished he hadn't been there at all. The Rhee sisters were enough to deal with.

"I'm so sorry if I'm interrupting," Beth said quickly, looking at her feet. Which were covered in mud. _Damn it._ "I just wanted to bring my sister some clothes and things that she might need tonight."

There was silence for a moment. Lizzie and Mika were staring at Beth's muddy boots, they were both trying not to laugh at how ridiculous they thought she looked. Daryl Dixon, however, seemed to be glaring at her face. Beth didn't know it, but Daryl was actually admiring how ethereal she looked – especially with the warm glow she was giving off, thanks to her brisk morning walk. Her cheeks were the perfect shade of pink.

Beth stood there uncomfortably, wishing that someone would speak up, avoiding Daryl Dixon's gaze – she really wished he would stop looking at her like that. His eyes were piercing and made her squirmish.

"That's nice of you," Mika said suddenly. "If you want, Hillary can show you to the room Maggie is staying in." Mika nodded at the housekeeper, who was standing by the door.

"Thank you," Beth said. "Sorry, again, for interrupting your breakfast."

As she followed Hillary out of the room, Beth could almost swear she heard a deep voice say "don't be." But then she was out of the room and being whisked up a gorgeous old wooden staircase. And before she knew it, Beth was pushing open yet another beautiful, handcrafted door into a bedroom.

"Bethie!"

Beth smiled at her sister. Maggie was lying on top of a huge bed that looked to be about two hundred years old. Her left leg was propped up on some pillows. Glenn Rhee was there too, in a chair beside the bed. He had just been holding out his phone to show Maggie something when Beth had walked into the room. He stood up. Beth smiled at him, too. She liked Glenn Rhee, regardless of his stupid sisters and mean friend.

"Hey Mags, good morning Mr. Rhee."

"Oh please call me Glenn," he responded lightly. "My dad is Mr. Rhee. Besides, we're all friends here!"

"Well Glenn," Beth responded, "thanks for looking out for my sister."

"Of course, it's my pleasure. I was so worried when I heard what had happened!"

Maggie grinned. "Glenn took the first red eye back as soon as he heard – apparently Mika called him."

"That was very sweet of you," Beth responded, her smile deepening.

Glenn blushed. Then he cleared his throat. "I'll let you two hang out for a little bit…Maggie, I'll be back later with some food for you, okay?"

"Oh you don't have to, Glenn!"

"Really, it's my pleasure! I'll bring you some books, too, if you want."

"Thank you," Maggie called after him as he left the room, closing the door behind him. She sighed. "Oh Bethie, I'm so embarrassed, and Glenn has been nothing short of wonderful to me all morning. He literally flew here in a panic to make sure I was okay."

"That's because he's obsessed with you," Beth responded with a chuckle. "And you're smart and funny and gorgeous and he's completely under your spell."

"Shut up, Bethie," Maggie said, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink.

"You think I'm joking, but I'm really not," Beth replied with a twinkle in her eye. "Now let's get you into some comfy clothes! Don't worry, I only brought your cutest sweatpants and that one sports bra that makes your boobs look great. Maybe I'll come back with some red lipstick and some mascara for you, too…."

"Beth, _stop it_!"

But both sisters were laughing now, delighted to at least be stuck in this awkward situation together.

….

Back downstairs, as Glenn searched for books in one of the libraries, Lizzie and Mika were laughing like hyenas over the state of Beth's clothes.

"Honestly, I couldn't even _see_ her shoes, they were so covered in mud!"

"Gross, right? I bet you anything that those boots were ugly to begin with, the mud might have been an improvement!"

"It's too bad Maggie has such a weird family, isn't it? I don't mind her – she's pretty. But not _too_ pretty, y'know? She must be _so_ embarrassed by her family, poor thing. "

They laughed again, heartily, and clinked glasses. Daryl watched them from the other side of the table. They really were ridiculous. He couldn't wait for Glenn to find that book already so that they could head out and go hunting.

"You've been very quiet, Daryl," Mika said to him suddenly. He raised his eyebrow at her. "What do you think? You wouldn't want _your_ sister to go charging through the mud and the woods like that to bring _you_ a toothbrush, would you?"

Daryl bristled at the mention of his older sister – a much better woman that the two of these idiots put together.

"Carol does what she wants, when she wants," he responded gruffly, "Ain't my place to judge, anyhow. If Beth Greene wants to walk through the mud to see her sister, I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Oh _puh-lease_ tell me you're not still thinking about her stupid eyes," Lizzie said to him sarcastically, "I didn't think it was even possible to notice them with such a distracting amount of dirt everywhere."

Sometimes Daryl couldn't believe that his kind-hearted best friend was related to a pair of witches like this.

"Actually," Daryl replied casually, standing up to leave the room, "her eyes were especially bright today – musta been the exercise. I noticed them right away."

And with that, Daryl Dixon was out of the room. He could hear Mika laughing – she must have thought he was joking.

"Oh shut up, you stupid cow," he heard Lizzie say to her sister under her breath. He smirked. Those two deserved each other.

Daryl couldn't wait to get out of the house and clear his head. He wanted to cast all thoughts of Beth Greene's eyes out of sight and out of mind. As pretty as they were, they stirred up feelings that he didn't want to acknowledge. The less he saw of Beth Greene, and the less he thought of her, the better.

Besides, he was on vacation. In a few weeks time, he would be back in Atlanta, and Beth Greene and her eyes would be nothing but a small blip in his memory.

...

_So I know I said I would try to condense the story a little from the original, but Pride and Prejudice is just SO GOOD and there are so many PERFECT scenes that I want to see play out with Beth and Daryl, so I think this fic is going to end up being pretty long (like the book). Also, I'm making Lizzie and Mika a little meaner than the Bingley women are in the book - but this is a modern AU so I figured I'm allowed to make slight changes like that. And yes! Carol is Georgiana, only I've made her Daryl's older sister rather than younger sister (because I have a plan for her storyline...). Obviously I don't ship them, but I do really love the friendship that they have on TWD and I wanted that to translate in my fic too, so I literally made them siblings because I still wanted Carol to be an important (and positive) aspect of Daryl's life. I think it works, because the sibling thing is how I interpret their relationship on the show, too. I hope you guys like this decision! Merle will also make an appearance eventually (if you're curious about Merle that is), but not where you expect to see him. Please review if you feel like doing so, it always makes my day a little better :)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Shall we take a turn about the room, Miss Bennett?**

**(Volume I Chapter VII in the book)**

Beth wasn't quite sure what to do with herself when she wasn't sitting in the guest bedroom with Maggie, giggling away. She had assumed that she would stop by for the day and then be on her merry way back home – but Maggie had other plans.

"Bethie, you can't go," Maggie had exclaimed in a panic, "don't leave me here with strangers!"

"Mags," Beth had replied, "You'll be fine! You already stayed here by yourself last night!"

"Yeah but I have so much more fun with you here," her sister responded with a pouty frown, "besides, it's a long walk back home and it's already getting dark. You have to stay. _Pleeeeeeaaaaase_?"

Beth huffed, but she wasn't about to tell her sister no. She would just have to make do.

"I don't have any pajamas…"

"Sure you do," Maggie said with a sly grin, sitting cautiously up in her bed "look, you brought me more than enough extra clothes, just wear this to sleep."

She held out a silky pink nightdress that Beth didn't remember packing in the bag. It must have slipped in there wrapped in something else.

Beth laughed out loud. "Oh God, Maggie, the things I do for you."

"You love me," Maggie replied with a grin.

"Sure do – now put that thing away before somebody sees it."

….

Glenn Rhee was delighted to let Beth stay the night with her sister.

"The more the merrier!" he said when she asked him. Beth smiled at him – Glenn Rhee really was a delightful person. And he had a lot of questions for Beth about Maggie:

"How is she doing? Is she bored? Hungry? Can I get her something? Does she want to watch a movie? Is her head any better? I feel terrible."

Beth blinked rapidly, confused by all of the questions he had just bombarded her with.

"Glenn, it's so sweet of you to let us stay here while she recovers," she said slowly, "and don't worry about Maggie, she has a thick skull, she's fine. We're both very grateful. Although, she would probably love it if you went upstairs and hung out with her some more…"

Beth barely had to say anything else, as Glenn quickly darted to the staircase and bolted up the stairs, two at a time.

"Dinner is in an hour!" she heard him say as he disappeared on the landing above her.

Great. Dinner. Her stomach rumbled. As hungry as she was, Beth didn't really know what to expect from the rest of the household. Probably nothing nice.

She decided to spend the hour walking the grounds of the Lodge. Although it was still in desperate need of renovations, the property had an elegance about it that had stood the test of time. Beth watched as the last bits of sunshine faded away in the distance as she made her way down one of the many paths leading to the back gardens. It was a lovely building. She was happy that Glenn had decided to invest in the place and return it to its former glory. It had been foreclosed on many years before, when Beth was still a little girl, but she could remember her mother and father getting all dressed up to have a fancy dinner at the Lodge back in the day. She had been very young, but she remembered how beautiful her mother looked in pearls – the pearls she always wore to romantic dinners at the Lodge with Hershel. Beth had those pearls now.

_Maybe after they remodel it, I'll get all dressed up in your pearls and come have a fancy lunch on your birthday Mama_, she thought to herself with a smile. She missed her mom. She missed her more than anything else.

With a sigh and a glance back at the Lodge, Beth began to slowly make her way back towards the building, stopping only for a minute to try and crack off as much dry dirt from her shoes as she could. It was cooling down fast outside, and she had a dinner to attend.

Somewhere up on the third floor of the Lodge, Daryl Dixon was looking out over the sunset too. Sunsets had always been his favorite part of the day. His mother always called sunsets the 'pretty orange ribbon that ties up the day to store away somewhere.' He smirked to himself – his mom had always been a bit nuts, but at least she was poetic about it.

As he watched the last sliver of sun going down, he noticed Beth Greene strolling casually through one of the gardens, her hair swaying behind her in the breeze. Damn it, he thought, it was like he couldn't escape her. She was _everywhere_. And she made him so uncomfortable, even from down there. She was completely unaware of the effect she had on him. She gave him a tight, constricting tug on his chest muscles.

He couldn't rip his eyes away from her, though. He was like a man in a trance. It wasn't until she disappeared into the building again that he even realized he had been staring so long. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Beth Greene was just another woman in another tiny nothing town that he would probably never speak to again in a few weeks. That was all. _Gotta keep on remindin' myself_, he thought as he headed downstairs.

….

Dinner went much better than Beth had anticipated. The Rhee girls were pleasant enough to her – they asked her about Maggie, asked if there was anything they could do to help, and offered to lend her clothes if she needed any. (Beth noticed Mika trying not to stare at her shoes, which were still dirty, even after her attempt to clean them a bit). But all in all, this was the nicest the Rhee girls had ever been to her. And Beth appreciated it – even if it was all for show.

As they ate a delicious meal (prepared by a kitchen staff that Glenn had hired), the conversation quickly turned to motorcycles. Glenn argued that they were dangerous, stupid machines – "look at what happened to Maggie!"

Daryl actually spoke up in defense of motorcycles – "of course they're dangerous without proper trainin.' But if you know what you're doin,' they're handy."

It was the longest sentence Beth had heard out of him in her presence. She casually agreed with him, nodding her head and adding that her sister didn't have training to begin with. Daryl sort of stared at her, speechless, and watched as a blush worked its way up her cheeks.

Eventually everyone was in on the argument. The Rhee sisters pulled out their iPhones and started to look up facts about accidents and training – the best types of bikes to have depending on the region etc. etc… Beth was impressed. She was actually enjoying herself. Glen kept cracking jokes, Daryl was deadly serious about arguing in defense of motorcycles (and seemed to know the most about them), and Beth hovered between the two, often adding her own two cents to the conversation. Even the Rhee girls seemed to be having a nice time – and they almost never looked happy.

By the end of dinner, everyone was in good spirits. Daryl seemed slightly less afraid to talk to her (Beth couldn't figure out if he was afraid of her or just didn't like her), the Rhee sister's had decided that she was their new best friend, and Glenn was a little bit drunk.

"I'm gonna go check on Maggie," he declared, standing up suddenly from his chair. "Save me some coffee for when I get back." And then he was out of the room in a flash.

"Come on Beth," Mika said as they all stood up, "Lizzie and I are gonna play cards in the library with coffee if you want to come. Lizzie always cheats but it's still fun."

"I do _not_," Lizzie responded quickly, linking her arm through Beth and pulling her towards the hallway. Beth was reminded of her own two silly sisters, Tara and Rosita. Maybe the Rhee sisters just had a lot of growing up to do – so Beth played along and gave Lizzie her brightest smile. Being friends was certainly a lot easier than hating each other's guts, even if Beth secretly didn't trust them further than she could throw them. Daryl Dixon seemed to be halfheartedly following them towards the library.

"I'm not very good at cards," Beth said when they reached the massive room. It had clearly already been remodeled – the entire room seemed to be built out of a rich mahogany, and there were beautiful shelves lining the walls – although not many books. Elegant couches were strewn stylishly around the room – and there was a small table and chairs with a stack of cards all laid out. Apparently, this was the Rhee after-dinner tradition.

"Oh you can watch then," Lizzie replied, turning to sit opposite her sister. She was already shuffling cards, and within a few minutes, Beth was all but forgotten.

Beth noticed a rather beautiful guitar standing up against one of the many bookshelves, and wondered briefly if Glenn knew how to play. Or maybe it was Daryl. She had a sudden mental image of Daryl Dixon sitting with a guitar and felt her face warming up. _Stop being so silly_, she thought to herself.

She noticed that Daryl Dixon himself was actually leaning back in one of the couches with a Macbook on his lap – he was typing away furiously.

Putting him out of her mind, Beth turned towards one of the shelves and decided to look for a good book to read.

They remained this way for some time – Glenn eventually joined the group. "Maggie fell asleep." He sat down to join his sisters.

"I'm sorry I don't have more books for you to choose from," he said to her after sitting down. "We just finished the remodel of this room a few days ago. Otherwise I'd have more to offer."

"Oh, this is fine, thank you!"

Beth decided then that Glenn Rhee was probably one of the nicest people she had ever met in her life.

"All that chattering made me lose my focus," whined Lizzie suddenly, as Mika looked at her own small pile of cards and cheered – clearly winning.

Beth stayed quiet, sticking her head back in her book.

Lizzie got up to stretch her legs, and ambled over to where Daryl was still typing away at his laptop. "Are you emailing your sister? Tell her I miss her, tell her that I can't wait to read the new book!"

Daryl grunted in response, but kept on typing.

"It's coming out soon, right? I loved the last one," Lizzie continues, unfazed, "it was so risqué. Beth, did you read it?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you read Carol Dixon's book? What was it called? Something like… _The End of_…oh shit, I can't remember what it was called."

"_At Wit's End_," Daryl said suddenly. Beth gasped. She had read that book – she had _loved_ that book. But she never made the connection between _the_ Dixons and Carol Dixon.

"I didn't realize that was your sister," Beth said, giving Daryl a timid smile, "she's an incredible author."

"Oh yeah," Glenn piped up, "she's written a few really great novels. Seems like she inherited all the talent in the family." He was grinning at Daryl.

Daryl was nodding seriously, though. "Yeah, she did. There aren't too many brilliant female authors out there, but Carol is definitely one of 'em."

Beth bristled a little at this – she was sure Daryl hadn't really meant anything by it, but Beth wasn't one to just sit by when casual sexism entered the conversation.

"There are plenty of brilliant female authors," she said quietly, almost to herself. Daryl stared at her, looking slightly offended.

"I'm not trying to say that you sister isn't a genius – I read her book and she clearly is," Beth said hurriedly, trying to explain herself, "but I think you're being totally misogynistic by saying that there aren't many good female writers. Clearly you just don't read enough."

She noticed that everyone in the room was now staring at her. Oops. Maybe it was time to escape. "Anyway, thank you for dinner, but I'm really very tired and I'm going to head to bed."

Mika and Lizzie were side-eyeing Daryl, who was staring at the ground.

….

Daryl felt ashamed of himself, which only happened on _very_ rare occasions. She had been right to call him out – he hadn't meant to say that there weren't many good female authors. He certainly didn't believe something as stupid as that, and he had never really thought of himself as sexist – but the words had tumbled out of him just the same. He felt stupid. It was just something that sort of came out of him. And he felt terrible.

He also felt like he needed to find her and apologize before she went to bed – he didn't want Beth Greene thinking he was a bad person. He wanted to apologize for offending her. He had already apologized to the Rhee sisters, who hadn't cared in the slightest. The last thing in the world Daryl Dixon wanted to be known as was sexist. Not when he had been raised by such an incredible mother, not when his own big sister was his idol. And so Daryl Dixon made his way up the stairs in active search of Beth Greene, who had only left a minute ago and couldn't possibly be asleep yet.

He was also impressed. Not many people stood up to him in his life – he supposed it was his gruff nature, or maybe just the way he looked. But Beth Greene had. And she had been _right_. He wasn't going to mope about it – he actually kind of wanted to thank her for calling him out.

Daryl was just trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say to Beth when he rounded the corner into a dark hallway and walked straight into her.

They both let out startled cries, and Beth's arm came out of nowhere, grabbing the front of his shirt tightly to keep herself from falling backwards.

Daryl was about to splutter another apology before his voice caught in his throat. She had changed clothes. She had changed into a figure-hugging pink silk underwear thing, and Daryl Dixon was rendered completely speechless. All sense of propriety was momentarily thrown out the window before he came to his senses and ripped his eyes from her, looking back down at the ground again.

"Oh uh..," he began, "I didn't – I just – I wanted to - "

"Oh God," she said at the exact same time, "this isn't – "

They both stopped and stared at each other – each embarrassed to the point of no return. And then suddenly Beth turned on her heels and walked briskly back into her room, shutting the door with a thud. Well, this certainly wasn't what Daryl had expected.

On the other side of the door, Beth was trying to decide whether to laugh or to cry. She looked over at her sister who was sleeping in the giant bed. _Maggie I'm so going to kill you tomorrow_, she thought. She couldn't wait to get back to her own home and her own bed – and her _own_ pajamas.

….

_Hey guys! So sorry it took so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter - I deviated just a little bit from the original - and I wasn't quite sure how to have that last conversation between them, because in the real pride and prejudice, sexism was literally a totally acceptable part of society so some of these chapters will be a little different because there are some things that just don't hold up anymore in the modern world. ALSO if you're reading this without ever having read P&amp;P and don't know the story at all, it might be a good idea to even just watch the movie (Kiera Knightley one OR the Colin Firth one) just so that you see where the story is coming from. Because it's a very very slow burn - as in Elizabeth and Darcy don't even openly like each other in the beginning - and the audience/readers aren't supposed to really like Darcy much either until later when you get to know him. So I'm trying to stay true to that. Sometimes Daryl will be kind of a dick. Sometimes Beth will be a little too judgmental - we all have our flaws! But it will all work out :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More soon!_


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